Poison and Wine (AlinaxDarkling)
by WhyAreAllTheCoolUsernamesTaken
Summary: He had known one thing:he'd needed her at first.But the little Sun Summoner has made him despise his heart,made him want what he can't have. And now the Darkling has to find a way to bring Alina back and convince her to rule side by side with him,while still holding on to his beliefs*this is my take on the Darkling's POV throughout the series.I might change the plot,too, later*
1. Part1: Lion Behind Glass

_Okay so, just to make things clear, I do not own any of the characters, or songs from the soundtrack. This is not necessarily a take in the plot, more like the Darklin's POV in what happens throughout the entire trilogy. I will change the plot at some undefined point, though, but we shall see. Until then, enjoy!_

* * *

 _ **POISON AND WINE.**_

"I am the seventh son

I have my father's eyes.

I am the setting sun,

I am a loaded gun.

I am a deadly sin,

I am the devil within."

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 **PART 1**

 **~Lion behind glass~**

~Soundtrack: Bryce fox – Horns~

The Darkling stared, torn between skepticism and disgust. She was no Grisha, he thought, and most definitely not what he had been waiting for all those years. Alina Starkov was no Sun Summoner. She was a mere rat. Or at least she looked like one.

Her face was pale and there were dark circles under her dull eyes, and her hair was matted with both blood and dirt, a mess of tangles strands. Her clothes were ripped and filthy, and he did not want to know how she smelled like. Probably like the rat hole she had climbed out of.

Yet here his people claimed they had seen her lit up like a thousand suns over a tracker's body. Some were as skeptical as he was, some were holding on to what they thought they'd seen, whilst the girl stood and took it all in, trying to keep her chin raised up and to hide her fear. A mouse who was not afraid of the cat, the Darkling thought.

The mere suggestion of a Sun Summoner hiding in his lands was ridiculous, of course, especially someone who could barely hide her fear, let alone her powers. But the image of a little boy cursed with too much power, hiding from the world, came into his minds. Everyone had their secrets.

There was only one way to find out, the Darkling thought as he made his way towards her. Maybe the girl had hidden for so long, but if she truly was a Sun Summoner, then her light would not resist his shadows. She would light up like a bonfire, ready to shine like the setting sun, ready to be used like a loaded gun. _His_ loaded gun.

And as he used his power to call to hers, to everyone's surprise, she responded. And the sense of fitness surprised the Darkling more than it should have. A call rose up in him, too, the call of her power, waiting for an answer, waiting to be opened, waiting for more, so much more. Waiting for a match. And as they both answered, Alina forcefully and the Darkling willingly, the world exploded into a blazing light.

Darkness and light danced around each other, a strange choreography to the sound of the crowd's gasps, until the Darkling released his grip. They'd had enough of a show, and he had proved himself wrong. Appearances were indeed deceiving. What looked like a mouse was in fact a trapped lion, waiting to get out, waiting to roar. But most of all, waiting to obey its master.

And so, as he let Alina Starkov get carried away in the crowd and he went back to sit on his throne, he thought to himself how he had finally found the weapon that he'd been looking for. And with it, with _her_ , he would change the world.

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 **AN: Will come soon with part 2!**


	2. Part2: Waiting Game

**PART 2**

 **~Waiting Game~**

 _~Soundtrack: Banks – Waiting Game~_

It was too easy, the Darkling thought. The little Sun Summoner was so easily manipulated that he did it almost effortlessly. She believed every lie he told her, without questioning or doubting, even if she had seen him cut a man in half.

She was scared of him, that was an understatement. One did not simply witness the death of a man without judging the killer. And the Darkling found that it bothered him. He had made so many men fear him, obey his will because of that terror that froze their blood when he passed by, and it had been the only way he'd known to ever make people recognize him. Between respect and fear, he would have the latter. But he had never needed anything as much as he needed her power. With it, he could do what he had always dreamed of and gain his deserved place on the King's throne. With her, he would rebuild Ravka to his liking. But in order to do that, she needed her not to fear him, not to end up one day trying to escape him. She needed him to be bound to him, to believe that he was the misunderstood hero, who had paved his way through life with good intentions. If the Darkling came to think of it, that wasn't necessarily a lie. But the road to hell was paved with good intentions.

He needed her to believe in him, to believe in this façade. He could act any emotion, pretend he was anything that he wasn't, and if he had to play the patient, understanding protector, then that was what he would do, to make her trust him. The Darkling had found along the years that he was quite the master at waiting games.

Yet something surprised him every time he came to face her. She was one little curious thing. Like an equation that didn't quite add to his problem. Few had the courage to talk back to him, and even fewer lived to tell the tale, yet she would sometimes tell him something that truly took him aback. Something like 'so you do make mistakes' or 'how old are you' or simply her disbelief in her powers. It was nothing he had expected from an orphan. But what had he expected, really? Maybe a sad, little girl scared of her own shadow and scared of the big, bad wolf, who had taken her away from the world as she knew it, only to throw her into the lions' cage.

Her genuineness truly surprised him. And the moment he decided that was when she refused to wear his colors, which no other person he knew would have done. Or maybe what surprised him even more was the fact that it didn't bother him at all.

She was quite something. And the moment he decided that was when she talked of old habits and expectations. She expected the worst of him, and even though it was only fair, the Darkling was surprised when he found that that thought bothered him. She was not wrong in her judgment, to expect the worse. Maybe it was not enough.

She was quite the stubborn one. And the moment he decided that was when he kept hearing of the letters she sent to that tracker from Genya. It was something of her past, something she held on to, and something that was keeping her from progressing. And so, he decided for her that her past had to stay where it was. Along with that otkazat'sya.

And she was quite the tenacious one. Her powers grew by day, until she no longer needed an amplifier, yet his greed screamed more. He needed more of her. He needed her to trust him more, he needed her to do more, to accomplish more. And he was growing weary of this waiting game.

The Darkling knew that waiting around may have not been enough. He had to win control over her, had to make her believe in him, and to make her believe that he believed in her, too. If he had to be honest, he knew that she could not do this all by herself, and that only a stronger amplifier could reach his expectations. A magical solution for a magical problem.

He had to act, the Darkling decided as he ran into her one day, when he was talking to Baghra. And he had to act now.

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 **AN: Just to make things clear, the chapters _will_ get longer, I promise. And I will change the plot, just later. Pinky promise**

 **Anyway, you can tell me what you think, I would love to hear your thoughts. And I hope you like my soundtrack :3**

 **See ya soon with part 3!**


	3. Part3: Comfort Came Against My Will

**PART 3**

~ **Comfort Came** **Against My Will~**

 _~SOUNDTRACK: James Vincent – Wicked Game~_

It was planned. The Darkling knew that the second Baghra had left them alone, he would act. He would walk Alina back to the Little Palace, feed her trust in him, as he usually did to manipulate her, and then act. Simple and smooth and perfectly thought. She was from an orphanage, a place where affection was a conceptual ideal, which he'd thought it would make it even easier to bind her to him, without fear or terror interfering. Because if she wanted this, then it would make things easier. It would be easier for him to toy with her. After all, she was just the means to an end.

So he kissed her. As he had planned. And still, he was the one taken aback.

He had felt the rush of her power that came with the briefest contact, had felt it simply by running his fingers over the scar in her palm, or by tapping her neckline, where the Morozova necklace would take its rightful place. He had felt it. But it was nothing compared to the feeling that surged through him, like an endless river of light, pouring into his abyss. And it fit the very essence of his being, just like two broken pieces of the same whole fit each other. The sun no longer gave away its place to the moon, and the moon no longer hid in the night. They both took their rightful place in the sky. It was a disastrous balance, a blissful consumption that messed with his head. And it made him want more.

It was as if her power called to him, not the opposite as it should have been, and his greed whispered for him to take more, to take it all, to feast on her light and consume it with his darkness.

But he did not understand. He did not understand how this could be possible, how, by a simple kiss, he could open such a wide connection, such an infinite source of power. And people fear what they don't understand, as he feared this feeling now. This was not what he'd thought it would happen.

So, the Darkling pulled back, almost as quickly as he had pressed their mouths together, and stared at Alina's surprised face, wondering if she had felt it, too. But no, she didn't seem confused. She seemed only surprised.

"I didn't mean...," he tried to say, but was interrupted by the sound of footsteps approaching them, and he hurried to compose himself.

Whatever this had been, it could wait. Alina could wait. Because, as Ivan had informed him when he reached them, he had business to take care of, business that including finding the stag, which was far more important than a mere sense of surety that he didn't quite understand.

And so he said his goodbyes to Alina, leaving her still gaping at him in the hallway lit only by a dim lamplight.

This was not going as he had planned, the Darkling decided as he made his way to meet with the Apparat. He had never taken into consideration that he would be affected by this in any way, and now that his lips still held the taste of hers, and the rush of that power was still echoing inside of him, he didn't know what to make of it. And he despised not knowing what to make of things. What a wicked game this was.

But the Darkling did not concern himself too much. It may have been the rush of the moment, the call of her power, the thrilling start. He was sure that, if he let time pass by unnoticed as he was so accustomed to, this sensation would fade.

How terribly wrong he was, he would come to understand only later.

* * *

 _~Soundtrack: Ben Howard – Black Flies~_

The Darkling was furious, furious as he had never been in his entire life. And all because of a young and naïve girl, who had come to have power over him. Oh, how he hated this feeling. And how he loved it at the same time.

He had put some distance between them since that first kiss, but it was impossible to avoid her at the Winter Fete, especially when she was dressed in his color, and still managing to look like the setting sun. He was losing his head. He didn't know if it was either her or her power, but he wanted it.

So, during the entire celebration, he kept finding excuses to touch Alina, only to feel that sensation of surety flow through him, to let it overcome him. He couldn't help but wonder how it would feel to give into it completely, to let it last and find its home in his bones.

Maybe it was the rush of the moment, the fact that Ivan had told him they'd found the Morozova's stag, or, as insane as it sounded, maybe it was just her. The way she looked at him, as if he was human. And in those short seconds, when their gazes locked for a brief moment, he truly felt like one. Not like the Black Heretic or the Darkling, a man burdened with too much power, and still not enough. He felt a little human. As if, with her by his side, he could pretend he was something more. She believed every lie he'd ever told, so much that it didn't sound like a lie anymore. She was the closest thing to trust someone like him could ever come to. And he was not done with her. Not yet.

Maybe for those reasons only, the Darkling decided he had to get a taste of that power again. It was such madness, that it reached the point of no returning. He was leading her in a dark room, leaving the crowd of whispered gossip and cheers behind, and as soon as the door closed, his mouth was on hers and he could think of nothing else.

And the connection between them opened once more, and the Darkling felt her power flood through him. He could feel his shadows succumb to Alina's light, vanishing like ousted demons. He could feel the greed for more, even though he was already drowning in what it already was, and her hands in his hair, her breath coming quick as he kissed his way from her shoulders to her jawline. But he could also feel his own anger boiling inside of him.

He had never wanted anything so badly in his entire life. And it had been a truly depraved one. He had been taught by his mother to always take more, and with Alina, he could take it all and still crave for more.

He had to be in the War Room, talking strategy and planning his journey north, yet here he was, in a dark room, giving in to a feeling he could not escape. It made him feel so weak, so human, and this time, not in a good way. His weakness was her power, and he was still hungry for it. His weakness was a girl named Alina Starkov, an orphan with brown hair and dull eyes, and the ravaging skill to make him lose his head.

Yet he did not care for that anger either. He let it be sensed in his rough kisses, but didn't allow it to find reason. It was like catching yourself in the middle of doing something dangerous, but knowing that there is no turning back and no point of giving up now. He kept on kissing her, and she kept on pushing closer to him, and they wouldn't have stopped had it not been for a couple of drunks pushing into the door.

And so, the spell broke. His reason found voice again and stopped him from continuing. Yet it did not stop him from wanting to come back to her that night. If he had to be honest, probably nothing would have stopped him. He was too much of a selfish and greedy man, since his mother's best 'merits' had rubbed off on him.

He barely understood a word his men said when they gave their report about the stag. He could only think of how rebuked with himself he was for letting such want overcome his true purpose. He had fulfilled it to some extant. Alina was undeniably trusting him, and she was not bound to him by fear. But then again, he was not bound to her by a mischievous interest either. Things were changing.

Yet those thoughts didn't stop him from coming back to her chambers that night. It did not stop him from knocking on her door, or calling her name, or entering the room when she didn't answer. But his desire was replaced with confusion, and then fury, when her name vanished in the night air and when his eyes searched for a silhouette in the empty room, only to realize that they were looking for something that was not there.

For Alina Starkov had left Os Alta that night.

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 **AN: Heyo, guys! Sooo, I really hope youre enjoying this as much as I do. Cuz my little heart just couldnt take that hideous ending, so I had to write fanfiction, even though Ive never had before. So bare with me, Im new at this. I dont know if Im getting the Darkling right, because he is such a complex character thats too hard to comprehend. But points for trying, I guess? No? Okay.**

 **I also hope you like the soundtrack. And if you got any feedback, or suggestions, like what you would like me to tell from his point of view before I start changing the plot, feel free to tell me. I'd love to hear from you.**

 **Anyways, I'll see you guys soon with another part!**


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